Sometimes it seems like there are so many systems and methods for using notebooks– Bullet Journaling is the most famous, I suppose. And then there is GTD, though that doesn’t have to be notebook-based. I also saw a link recently to the “Life at a Glance System” of journaling (via The Pen Addict).
Some of these systems are all about productivity, but I can’t help wondering how productive it is to have to figure out all these rules and symbols and pages recapping weeks and months and years. I think we’re all attracted to the idea of a system that will somehow optimize our performance, but to me it seems like if we’re always searching for systems, we might be losing our focus on the end goals. Do note-taking methods and journaling systems just over-complicate things?
Then there’s the aesthetic considerations: Bullet Journaling has a sub-set of users for whom it seems to be all about the set-up and decoration of the pages (and displaying them on Instagram). And it’s not just Bullet Journalers– many other notebookers use a variety of inks and pens, stickers, calligraphy, drawings and doodles, vintage stamps and ephemera to give each page a colorful, highly-designed look. Using a shitajiki, aka pencil board or writing board, is also popular– this is a guide with lines that can be laid under a blank page to make it easier to keep your handwriting aligned.
I do get the attraction. I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to “Beautiful Notebook Pages,” and many of the images there are of colorful, decorated, precisely organized pages that have taken some effort. But my attention is also grabbed by notebook pages that look interesting by accident, because they are densely scribbled or beat up or just somehow infused with personality and purpose.
As for my own notebooks, I use some colored inks, and I sometimes paste in images or play with attempts at calligraphy, but most of my pages don’t look beautiful at all. My handwriting can be tidy and attractive when I want it to be, but often it’s just an uneven scrawl. Even in sketchbooks where I do drawings I’m proud of, I often think the pages don’t look as well-composed as they do in other artists’ sketchbooks I see.
But I’m actually a pretty productive and well-organized person anyway. My notebooks work for me, and I enjoy using them. So rather than admit I’m just not that good at making them look pretty, I’ve decided I have to proselytize about my own notebooking method, which I’ve decided to call “Zero-Effort Journaling©.” The rules for this system are very simple:
- Rule 1: Write stuff down in notebooks whenever you feel like it
- Rule 2: DGAF about how it looks
- Rule 3: two rules are enough
I guarantee this method will make you more productive than spending all those extra hours coloring little pumpkins on your October spread with 3 shades of orange markers.
If you want to learn more in order to truly optimize your use of the Zero- Effort Journaling© system, you may be over-thinking it! But I will consider going full internet-guru and maybe sell downloadable PDF guides with further instructions, or setting up some symposiums, or even offering one-on-one consultations with me for what I’m sure you’ll consider a very reasonable hourly rate.
In all seriousness, though, I don’t mean to suggest that there’s anything wrong with being creative and artistic in your notebooks. Maybe Rule 3 should actually be “if you enjoy spending time making your notebooks look pretty, go for it!” But then Rule 4 would have to be “don’t let it get to the point where you feel stressed and inadequate because your notebooks don’t look pretty enough.” If your goal is to use a journal for mindfulness, productivity and record-keeping, you may find that the Zero-Effort Journaling© approach is all you need.
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It seems to come down to the difference between setting up a layout with coordinated colors, ephemera, stickers, etc. and just randomly decorating or doodling or applying stickers as you go, when you feel like it. I’m in the second camp. I might go through a blank journal and insert stickers or fun rubber stamp images, or doodle around the edge of some pages, but it’s always completely random and there’s no cohesive theme. For those who have the patience to do a proper layout, I do enjoy looking at those on line.
Hi, Vic here, from Portugal. I don’t journal as a habit, only some times i scribble a few frases and do a little doodling and paste a newspaper or magazine photo, but is all very untidy and ammorphous. Am i being cynic, or all those very beautiful and tidy journalings and plannings we see and admire online somehow bring back to their authors/owners ometjing more than just the likes and admiration? Just a thought…
I couldn’t agree with you more on your “Zero-Effort Journaling” system. I’ve been using planners my entire life. 20 years in the military and 15 years in the civilian world using a desk sized Day-Timer that I could not have functioned without. They weren’t pretty, but they were functional. After retiring, I switched to a Moleskin trying to do the Bullet Journal thing. Mine wasn’t pretty like all of those Bullet Journals posted on social media. People must have spent half their day making them all fancy. Today, I use a Rite in the Rain Pocket Calendar and a Space Pen. It’s a perfect solution for me. Not fancy. Pocket sized. Gets the job done. And, if I drop it in the river while photographing birds, it’s still good.
> But my attention is also grabbed by notebook pages that look interesting by accident, because they are densely scribbled or beat up or just somehow infused with personality and purpose.
Fully agree. It’s going to be beautiful no matter what.
How can you expect to be taken “In all seriousness” when you so subtly mock those who love 3-toned orange pumpkins? Perhaps a typo for “3 orange-toned pumpkins”?
Nonetheless, I find your perspective compelling, and I would like to sign up for one of your symposia. I look forward to announcement of dates and locations. I could definitely use your help, since most of my notebook pages fall in the uninteresting-by-design category. (Now who’s mocking whom? )
Seriously though — yes, really this time — this is one of the funniest posts I have read in a very long time. Nice job.
I call it chaos Journaling but zero effort may be a better fit. No way can I make a coherent index or be neat. But I can usually find what I’m looking for in my archive notebooks.